Pen Pals

My week is very loaded, especially weekdays. I'll describe a week in the morning shift. On Monday and Wednesday, I wake up at 7:30 to get ready for school. The bell rings at 8 am. From Monday to Thursday we have 7 hours of lessons and on Friday we have 6 hours. When I get home from school, I eat and I rest for a while. After that, I do my lessons. At 8:15 p.m. I go to a private English school till 10 p.m.(Most of students in Greece go to private English Schools to learn English better) When I get home, I read the rest of my homework or watch TV or I play on my computer and at 11-12 I go to sleep. On Tuesday and Thursday, I do basically the same things with the difference, from 8:10 p.m. to 9:50 p.m. I do private German lessons. On Friday, after my lessons finish, I go to the Environmental club. When I get home I watch TV, play on my computer, listen to music. Later on, I go to my private English school and after that I go out with my friends. On Saturday, I get up at 11 o'clock. From 1:30 till 3 p.m. I have basketball practice. In the afternoon, I and my friends go out. We go to the cinema, we walk by the waterfront or we might go to a cafe. On Sunday, from 4 to 6 p.m. I go to basketball practice and I spend the rest of the evening with my family.

I wake up at 7:30 a.m. and get ready for school. My friend comes at 7:45 and pick me up to go to school. Lessons start at 8:00 a.m.( 8-8:45 Ancient Greek, 8:55-9:40 Social and Political Education, 9:45-10:30 Mathematics, 10:40-11:25 Physical Education, 11:30-12:10 Computers, 12:15-12:55 Careers Counceling, 13-13:40 Greek Literature) After school, I run a few errands. Then I go home tired. From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. I do my homework. At 6 p.m. I go to a private English School for 2 hours. After that, I continue my homework, if it's necessary. At 10 p.m. I watch TV for one hour. 11 p.m.-7:30 a.m. it's sleep time!

8:30 a.m. No matter how much I want to sleep, it’s time to get up. I eat something to start my day with energy. Then I start studying my lessons till 13:00 p.m.(either for school or for the English private school). After so many hours studying, a good lunch is perfect to me. Then I turn my computer on either to write something or to play games. 2:00 p.m. My friends wait for me because I’m usually late. The bell rings at 14:15, lessons starts. (14:15-15:00 Ancient Greek, 15:05-15:45 Greek Literature, 15:50-16:30 Physical Education, 16:40-17:25 Computers, 17:30-18:10 Mathematics, 18:15-18:55 French, 19:00-19:40 Biology). 7:45 p.m. At last, back to home! - 20:00 Getting ready to go to my private ballet school. - 20:30-22:00 Attending the dance lesson. Then, I arrive at home exhausted and I watch TV to relax till 11 p.m. Then... good night!!!

On Monday morning I wake up at 7:00 and 10 minutes later I go to my friend's home to pick her up to go to school. The bell rings at 8:00. All students parade in our school yard, pray, listen to the headmaster of the school (if he has something to tell us) and go into the classrooms. Ancient Greek is the first lesson that I have. At 8:45 the bell rings for a break. After 5 minutes we go again into the classroom to do the second lesson (English) for 45 minutes. After that, we have a 10 minute-long break and most of my classmates run downstairs to the school's canteen to buy something to eat. (The first and the two last breaks are 5 minutes long and the others are 10 minutes long). After that, we go upstairs again to have the 3rd lesson (Social and Political Education), then Greek language, History and Physics. (On Monday, 15th of November, the last 10 minutes of the 4th hour, we practiced in case of an earthquake and we had to evacuate the building in 2 minutes (without running and panic). We must run to a specific pattern in case of an earthquake). At 1:40 p.m. we are able to go home. I study my English lessons, watch TV for a while and then I go to my private English school for 2 hours. When I arrive home at 8:15 p.m., I do my homework till 11 o'clock and I go straight to bed.

I wake up at 7:15 a.m. and I go to school. I have 7 hours of lessons (Greek language, Mathematics, Social and Political Education, History, Chemistry, Greek literature and Physics). Sometimes, we write one hour-long tests (examination of a term) or 10 minute-long tests. During the 7th hour, although we are very tired, we must solve Physics' problems. I get home at 1:45 p.m. and I study my lessons till 4 p.m. Then I go to my private conservatory to learn piano. After that, I continue my homework (5:30-7:30 p.m.) and I go to my private English school for 2 hours. Later on, I watch TV for a while, talk with my parents and at 12 o'clock I go to bed!

In the morning I wake up at 7 o'clock. After that I get ready for school. My mother makes breakfast for me. School begins at 8 o'clock. We have 7 hours of lessons. I finish my lessons at 1:40 p.m. After school I go home. I have lunch at 2:15 p.m. and I relax for one hour. I go to study and I finish at 5:30 p.m. At 6 o'clock a comes to teach me Ancient Greek. The teacher leaves at 7:30. At 8 o'clock I have English lesson for one hour. I have soccer training from 9 to 11 p.m. I go home and I watch TV for a while. Finally, I go to bet at 12 o'clock midnight.

Friday is a special day for me especially when we are in the afternoon shift. It is special because first of all I have 6 hours of lessons (Monday to Tuesday I have 7 hours of lessons) and second because I can go out with my friends in the evening. On Friday morning, I get up, eat my breakfast and I read my lessons. Sometimes I watch TV. After that, I go out to buy bread and milk. At 2 o'clock, I go to school. The lessons that I have every Friday are: Ancient Greek (2 hours), French, English, Biology and Religions. As soon as the lessons are over, I go to the environmental club. In the evening, I go out with my friends and when I get home I work on my computer.

One more tiring day begins at school. I wake up at 7:20 a.m. get ready, eat my cheespie (tiropita) and then I go to school. Then I go to my private Greek school (In Greece, some students go for a few hours to private Greek schools for extra help in difficult subject e.g. Mathematics, Physics etc.) I have Physics, Mathematics and Ancient Greek. After that, I read my homework and at 7 p.m. I go to soccer practice. At about 11 o'clock I go to bed...

On Wednesday, at school we have the following lessons: Ancient Greek, Social and Political Education, Mathematics, Chemistry, Greek Literature, Physics and History. When school finish, I go straight home, I eat my lunch and I go to my Greek private school where I am taught Mathematics, Physics, Ancient Greek and Chemistry. Generally, my Wednesdays are overloaded. In Greece, we divide the school year into 3 terms. We write tests in all lessons for each term. I hate these tests.

I waked up at 8:30 a.m. and I watched TV for half an hour. I read my lessons till 10:30 a.m. and I went outside to play soccer with my friends. I came back at 1:00 p.m. and I got ready for school. The bell rang at 2:00 p.m. Lessons finished at 7:40 p.m. and I went straight to my private English school. I came back home at 11:00 p.m. and I went straight to bed.

I wake up at 7.00 a.m. and I get ready for school. Every Monday, I have 7 hours of lessons and I finish at 1:40 p.m. After my lessons finish, I go to the School's Health Club (sex education) till 3:30 p.m. After that, I have soccer training till 6:30 p.m. Then, I do my lessons and I go to bed at 10:00 p.m.

Every Tuesday, I wake up at 7:00 a.m., eat breakfast and I go to school till 1:40 p.m. Then I study my Greek and English lessons and at 8:00 p.m. I go to my private English School till 10.00 p.m. I relax watching TV and then I go to bed.

 13. Irene Michailidou: My daily life

I wake up at 7:30, eat my breakfast and I go to school. Lessons begin at 8:00 o'clock. After 7 hours of lessons, I get home at 14:00 and I eat my lunch. Then I study my English lessons and at 17:20 p.m. I go to my private English School till 19.00. I study my Greek homework till 21:30. Then, I usually watch TV till 23:00 and I go to bed.

9.30 I wake up. 9.40 I eat my breakfast. 10.00-12.00 I do my homework. 12.00-12.45 I do my English homework. 12.45-13.15 I watch TV or I listen to music. 13.15 I have my lunch. 13.45 I go to school. 14.15-19.45 I have 7 hours of lessons. 20.00-21.40 I learn English language at my private English school. 21.50-22.00 I eat something. 22.00-23.00 I watch TV. 23.00 I have a shower. 23.30-9.30 It is sleep time.

My worst day is Thursday. I wake up about seven o’ clock, because I have private computer lessons. When I finish it I go home and read my school lessons. After two hours reading I go to school. But when I finish, I go training for two hours. After that I go to study my english school lessons. That’s my worst day.

Everyday I get up at half-past seven, I don’t like getting up in the morning but my mother gets angry if I’m late for school. My friends come to my house and we go together to school. At school I have lessons from 8 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. When school has finished my friends and I chat for a while outside the school then I go home for lunch. After lunch I go to my bedroom and rest for an hour. After that I do my homework . In the evenings, sometimes I stay at home and watch TV, listen to music or I go out for a walk. Three times a week I go to my private English school. I usually go to bed about half- past eleven . This is my program for the week.

I get up at 7:30 a.m. every day and I go to school. This year my studies are very difficult , ( I am graduating from junior high school in June) and I study a lot because I want to get good marks. The bad thing is that some of my teachers think that I am not a very good kid. I don’t really mind whether they think I am a good student or not, but I want to show them that I am responsible although I look so cool. At about 2:00 p.m. I go home, have lunch with my mum, who is usually home at lunchtime and then I start my homework straightaway. First I study for my English class (this year I’m taking my Lower examinations in May). I believe English isn’t very difficult , however I have to study more seriously this year. Then I go to my football club, do my training (Thank God there’s football in my life!) and relax. This is an ordinary school day for me.

Every Wednesday and Friday, I wake up at 7.30 and I go to school. I come back home at 14.00 pm. I eat my lunch and I sleep for a couple of hours. At 19.00 pm. I attend my speech therapy till 21.00 pm.